Teacher's Pet
by platinum-heaven
Summary: Meet Emily Prentiss: Star pupil at North Blackriver High. Meet Mr Hotchner: The new English teacher at North Blackriver High. And they shouldn't be looking at each other like they do, and they shouldn't be spending as much time in his office as they do, and they certainly shouldn't be feeling the things that they do; they could lose everything. But...only if they get caught...
1. First Day

**Hey :) So it's brilliant that you guys picked this story to read, I'm very excited and it's been something I've been writing for quite some time. I was planning on finishing my other fanfic first, but I've forgotten the e-mail address to the account :( So I made a new one and started a new story while I try to figure it out. If you happened to be reading my other fic, it was a SpencerxDerek fic, called _Our Own Secrets_ and the account was _HuntingTheStars_. I really loved writing it, but the website logged me out and now I can't remember the email :/ Anyway, back to this story.  
I am Emily _crazy_. I miss her so much it isn't healthy, and I actually started writing this out before she left (for good) but never had the courage to post it because I thought that maybe the whole idea of a teacher/student relationship was too cliche or weird and people wouldn't like it :/ It takes a few chapters to set itself up, but I am really liking the way this fic could go, so any advice would be absolutely wonderful :D  
Last little bit of writing, if you managed to get this far through my nonsense I applaud you ;) English isn't my first language, and a do struggle with the correct formatting of phrases and whatnot. So if you read something which is just awful to look at, please let me know! You don't even have to leave it as a review, you can PM me with where the mistake is/how I can phrase my wording better. I'd really appreciate any sort of feedback, with that and also with the story in general :)  
Enough from me, read on, and I hope you enjoy it :) xx PH**

Emily squeezed her eyes shut as she tied to ignore the blasting ringing of her alarm on her bedside table and shut out the early morning light which filtered through her open window. There was a soft breeze blowing into her room and she relished in the few moment of serenity before she began the first day of the new school year.

This year, the year she has been waiting for, for what felt like decades. What she had been working endlessly towards, every drip of sweat and effort she has put into her life in the past has come boiling down to the next 200 days.

Sitting up, she reached over to disable the ringing on her phone and checked the time. Having at least another hour before she needed to leave, she dragged her feet to her bathroom attached to her room, glancing at her slightly dishevelled reflection and sighing.

'Well Em, this is it.' She said to herself. She stared into her own eyes for a few more minutes before applying the toothpaste to the brush and she began her morning routine.

* * *

"Emily!" The excited shout of her name caused the brunette to spin around before smiling widely at her best friend.

"JJ, it feels like forever." Emily said when the petite blonde was closer so she didn't have to yell across the grounds. 'Wow, did you want to get any more tanned?' Emily joked, with slight envy in her tone as she eyed her friend's newly darkened skin. JJ shrugged dismissively.

"I guess that happens when you spend the summer in Hawaii. I swear, Em, I'm pretty sure I spent most of my time at the beaches." JJ's eyes glazed over as she reminisced. "It's just like the postcards; the water is crystal clear, the beaches are tropical and everything is just…magical." She added dreamily. Emily eyed her friend suspiciously.

"Okay, who is he?" She finally demanded. JJ had just enough time to fake an innocent expression before Emily felt the wind get knocked out of her.

"Prentiss!" The familiar voice boomed. Emily staggered a few steps before regaining her balance as she was bombarded by the familiar bear hug.

"Morgan! Urgh, get off me!" Emily gasped. Morgan pulled back and looked at Emily, happiness lighting up his eyes in a way that always made Emily smile.

"What, didn't you miss me while I was gone?" He asked raising an eyebrow, his trademark smile playing at his lips. He knew how this 'look' affected the other girls in their year, but JJ and Emily seemed to be immune to it by now, and merely rolled their eyes.

"I actually missed the both of you. Whilst you were off travelling around Africa, and JJ was exploring the magical waters of Hawaii with a mystery hot guy, I was stuck at home, being dragged to endless political parties and 'social events.'" Emily waved her fingers in quotation marks around the two words. "I'll tell you something; these people definitely do _not_ know the meaning of 'social'." Emily groaned whilst Morgan and JJ stifled their laughs. "They made me play badminton." She finally whined after a long pause. Not being able to hold themselves together, JJ and Morgan simultaneously burst into laughter at their friend's misfortune. Emily tried to eye them down, but ended up joining the laughter.

Their reunion was cut short however by the bell ringing across the school. A few moments later, the teachers began to herd the seemingly unwilling, but secretly enthused students to the first assembly of the year at North Blackriver High.

…

Barely at school for fifteen minutes and Emily was already feeling her eyelids grow heavy at the dreary voice of their principle, Madam Strauss. Emily looked over to her right and made eye contact with Morgan, before they both rolled their eyes as the principle made the same start of the year speech as she has made every other year that they have been here. Morgan began to mouth the words to the conclusion to Madam Strauss' speech, them both hearing it that many times.

"And I'd like to wish you all the best in the upcoming year for your learning and education. May you all embrace the opportunities your teachers have to offer and I hope you'll all take advantage of your education, as it will lead you down a pathway of fulfilment for your futures."

Emily bit her knuckles as she tried to hold her laughter in as Morgan mouthed every word exactly in time with Strauss, adding his own variation of facial expressions as well.

Strauss sat down in her seat on the stage, in line with all the other head teachers and the deputy as they waited for the next speaker to stand up. There were a few minutes of silence before a rather loud 'Oh!' was heard through the assembly hall as the deputy, Mr Rossi, stood up when he realised it was his turn to speak. A few of the students, mainly the younger ones, giggled whilst the older kids simply smirked, not really surprised their deputy somehow ruined the formality of Strauss' speech.

Emily looked around as Rossi began his not so formal start of year speech, looking at the teachers which stood at various positions in the hall and internally matchmaking them together. Getting lost in her own little world, Emily jumped a little when Morgan jabbed her in the ribs.

"What?" Emily hissed under her breath. Morgan shrugged and smirked, causing Emily to roll her eyes. Such typical behaviour of him. Emily looked to Morgan's right, trying to make eye-contact with JJ, but judging by her facial expression, she seemed to be trying to convey her love through text messages. Emily internally groaned before shifting her weight to rest against Morgan's sturdy side. She always found comfort in her best friend.

* * *

Hours seemed to have passed, and the trio were finally at recess, comparing their timetables, figuring out what lessons they had first, and which classes they had together. English was a shared class between them, and Emily also had Media Studies with JJ, and Law with Morgan. Her Extension Two Maths class and Modern History class however, she took alone. Not that she minded, really. Her mother had drilled repeatedly into her head over the summer that this was the year she needed to get serious, and to stop being distracted by 'outside influences'. Emily skin flushed with anger at that, however she held her tongue, knowing that arguing with her mother never got her anywhere.

Lucky for Emily, once the morning break was over, she had maths first. She groaned to herself, wondering why she had to do four units of the class simply to please her mother. Idly, Emily thought to herself that no matter what subjects she chose, she still wouldn't be able to please her mother. But why make things harder for herself, she guessed.

Making it into class just on time, Emily took a spot at the back, pulled her books out and prepared herself for a struggling year ahead of her. Emily, along with most of the class let out a distressed groan when their teacher, Mr Mauleen, started to hand out one double sided sheet of paper and announced they were doing a placement quiz so he could see where everybody was knowledge wise.

Five minutes into the quiz, the sound of the door handle being fumbled at broke the silence which had captured the senior students ever since they touched their pen to the paper. Four or five curious heads looked up as Mr Mauleen slowly made his way to open the door to the fumbling stranger outside.

"Hi, um, this is the Extension Two Mathematics course, right? Or am I in the wrong room again?" Emily's eyes shot up when she heard the voice, he sounded like a child. And when she glanced at the intruder's face, he looked like one also. No more than sixteen. Surely, he must be in the wrong class.

"Ah, Spencer Reid, they told me you'd be coming today. We've just started the lesson with a quick quiz so I can see where everybody is at in the course. Here is a copy, and you can take the spare seat next to Emily up at the back." The young boy nodded and he cast a quick glance at the sheet and smiled knowingly before making his way to sit beside the only empty chair next to Emily.

Whether or not this 'Spencer' kid knew every eye in the room was trained upon him, she wasn't sure. If he did know, he simply ignored the stares and sat down beside Emily and began scribbling the answers of the quiz faster than Emily could believe. He was done in less time it took Emily to complete three quarters of the quiz.

The lesson continued rather uneventfully, and with Spencer answering any and every question which was directed to the class, he quickly earned the respect of not only Mr Mauleen, but some of the students as well.

The bell signalled for the end of class, and most of the students were out of the classroom already. Emily was in no rush, she had a free period next. In fact, she was rather intrigued by this mystery child who knew more about mathematical practices than any of them in the class.

"So how old are you, sixteen?" Emily finally asked, unable to fight the curiosity any longer. Spencer seemed genuinely surprised that Emily was even talking to him, and she felt a small prang of empathy for this boy who probably never fitted in with his own age group.

"Fifteen actually. I turn sixteen in two months and eight days." Spencer stated matter of factly, looking back down to his bag as he zipped it up.

"Fifteen." Emily let out a low whistle. "That's impressive." Spencer simply shrugged and slung his bag over his shoulder. "I'm Emily, by the way." She stuck out a hand for him to shake and gave him a wide, friendly smile. Spencer looked at her hand with mild confusion, before returning the handshake and meeting her eyes.

"Reid. Spencer Reid." He introduced himself. Emily stifled a chuckle at the formal greeting.

"It's a pleasure Mr Bond." She laughed lightly. Spencer tilted his head in confusion and stared at Emily as if she was insane.

"Excuse me?" He questioned.

"Bond?" Emily said a little unbelievably. "James Bond? Famous movie spy? You know, 'The name's Bond, James Bond'?" She continued, but seeing no flicker of recognition in the young boy's face, she simply smiled and let it go, shaking her head. "Never mind. So, what do you have next lesson?" She asked, striking up another conversation.

"Nothing, I have a free period, then English afterwards. Following that there is lunch which goes for forty-two minutes, which is followed by a double lesson of Chemistry and then I leave at 3:20pm." Spencer recited automatically. Emily pressed her lips together to avoid laughing.

"That's…very cool." Emily nodded her head. "I have a free now too, want to get some coffee?" She offered, picking up her bag.

"Coffee? I don't drink coffee." Spencer answered back, to which Emily just laughed.

"Oh trust me; you will be an addict by the time this year is over." Emily promised, to which Spencer gave her a slightly frightened expression.


	2. The First Lesson

**Thanks so much guys for the response to the last chapter! I'll try to update at least once a week, but (being in my final year of school also haha) sometimes I just get swamped by work :( But I'll do my best to update regularly! Enjoy! xx  
P.S. I have used a similar age difference between Emily and Hotch in CM, which is about 12 years I think? So Em is 17 here, so I'm imagining a late 20's early 30's Hotch in this story. And I forgot to say last chapter, but I had Spencer be a little older than the actual age he graduated high school because it fits the story better. :) Okay, enough from me haha.**

* * *

Spencer turned out to be a nice kid, Emil mused while she watched him animatedly talked about the statistics involving coffee; a little strange, sure, but nice.

She felt bad for the boy, he had no friends, and at least two years younger than any of the kids in their grade; she could tell that he'll have a hard time fitting in. So naturally she befriended him, hoping he'd find some sort of comfort within her. She had gotten the feeling that he hasn't had many friends in the past.

Time flew by, and before they knew it the two of them were heading to their first English class, which they had together. She introduced Spencer to Morgan and JJ, who both smiled and made polite conversation with him. Morgan gave Emily a bit of a strange look, but didn't comment.

Taking their seats, Emily and JJ, along with most of the students in the class, were talking in hushed whispers about who would be the new teacher. When Mr Gideon announced his retire last year, the whole school was devastated. But not too long after, the excitement of getting a new teacher in their tiny school seemed to be the talk of all the students, and that didn't change now.

"I hope he's cute!" JJ whispered excitedly, craning her neck to try and catch a glimpse of the new teacher in the hallway.

"Cheating on your Hawaii boyfriend already Jayje?" Emily teased, pushing JJ's shoulder softly. JJ rolled her eyes and sank back into her seat, before looking at Emily. "What makes you think he'll be a he anyway?" Emily asked, to which JJ just shrugged.

"I hope they won't be mean." She sulked. "While Gideon was cool, he did have his moments." Emily nodded her head slowly in agreement. She remembers one of her first lessons with him where he just picked on her the whole lesson, for no apparent reason.

"I'm sure that-" Emily stopped mid-sentence, as did everybody else in the classroom as they watched the new teacher walk into the room. His back was to the students, nobody catching a good look at his face. He seemed overly formal for a high school that had almost four hundred students, wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase. He had the overpowering air of authority which presented itself the second he stepped into the classroom, gaining control over all the students without uttering a single word. His hair was short and neatly groomed, and he had a nice and firmly defined back. Emily could almost hear the heartbeats of the girls in the room quicken.

When he turned around, everyone in the room seemed shocked with his age; the way he commanded control over the students wouldn't suggest he was younger than thirty, however the lack of age lines of his face and his undeniable youthful features spoke otherwise.

"Hello." He nodded to the students. "I'm Mr Hotchner and I'm your new English teacher." His voice was firm, not leaving any room for questioning from the students. He met a few of the eyes of various students in the room, and when he looked at Emily, she felt like his gaze burnt into her soul. "As I'm sure you all know you've reached your final year of high school. It's my job to assist you in any and every way possible to help enrich your learning, and give you every opportunity to achieve your best. That's not to say, however, that I'm going to be holding your hand and walking you through the year. You are senior students now, you need to take control of your learning and be inquisitive." Emily felt herself captivated by his voice. There was something in it, something which just made him so trusting that she felt completely at ease with him as a teacher, confident that in every word he spoke, he spoke the truth. "It should be noted," He continued, "That I will not tolerate any foolish behaviour or nonsense in this class. Not only are you all senior students, but you are Advanced English students. This tells me that you are all clearly capable with completing the coursework and keeping up to date with homework. Anything less will not be tolerated."

Complete silence in the room followed the speech as Mr Hotchner look around the room to see if all the students were following what he was saying, they all appeared to be.

"Excellent. Now, let's get started." There was definitely a more uplifting tone in his voice now, a small smile on his lips. Not like a happy smile, more of a small comforting smile. Mr Hotchner walked behind his desk and pulled out two piles of what were obviously Shakespeare texts. Emily smiled, she loved studying Shakespeare. Whilst many of the students complained about not understanding the old English, Emily understood it with surprising ease, grasping concepts of the plays quickly. "Hamlet." Mr Hotchner announced as he held a copy of the play for all the students to see. "This is one of your assigned texts for the year, and we will be studying Shakespeare for the next seven weeks." Mr Hotchner stopped talking for a few moments while some students let out a small groan.

"Now," He continued with that little smile on his face. "Who can tell me some of their own personal favourite quotes from any Shakespearian play you've studied previously?" There was a silence in the room as students racked their brains for a quote that they can claim as their favourite. Emily looked over to Morgan, but he just looked bored and uninterested in answering and JJ was staring out the window. Slowly, Emily raised her hand into the air, gaining the attention of Mr Hotchner.

"A personal favourite of mine is, '_Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under't._'" Emily smiled shyly.

"Macbeth." Mr Hotchner nodded. "A good quote." He praised.

"Macbeth is one of my favourites." Mr Hotchner raised an eyebrow.

"What about it makes you enjoy it so much?" He questioned.

"Just how Lady Macbeth manages to manipulate Macbeth the way she does. But also, how her involvement begs the question of if Macbeth hadn't said anything to her about the prophecy, would he still have become king? I just love how Shakespeare manages to ask all these questions, yet without really answering any of them, leaving it to be interpreted by the viewers." Emily shrugged. "I just really enjoy it."

As Emily spoke, Mr Hotchner's smile grew slowly as he listened to the obviously keen student who is eager to learn. She was rather beautiful, the way her eyes lit up as she spoke about the play, and by the end of her answer, he was smiling properly at her.

Mr Hotchner's smile sent a lovely feeling down Emily's spine, and she felt an immediate connection with her teacher through the appreciation of Shakespeare's works.

The way that Mr Hotchner smiled sent butterflies fluttering through the stomach of most of the girls in the class. They all straightened their backs and eagerly paid attention to the class, hoping that they could be on the receiving end of his surprisingly adorable dimpled smiles.

"Yes I agree." Mr Hotchner replied. Not wanting to draw more attention to a singular student, Mr Hotchner began to hand out the plays, making a little bit of eye contact with Emily as he walked past her, and Emily flashing a small smile his way.

* * *

"He. Is. _So_. Adorable!" JJ gushed at lunchtime for the third time. "I mean, Em, did you see his smile? Those dimples? I honestly didn't think he had it in him." Morgan huffed as he sat his tray down on the table the three of them usually occupied and say down.

"I didn't see anything too special about it." He mumbled. JJ and Emily shared a look before laughing.

"Aw Derek, are you jealous?" JJ cooed as she placed a hand on Morgan's shoulder. Morgan shrugged it off.

"_No_," Morgan emphasised while Emily stifled a laugh. "I am not jealous. I'm just saying he's an old man and I don't see what's so great about him."

"He isn't _old_ Morgan." Emily admonished as she too sat down at their table. "He's what, twenty-five?" Emily asked, looking over to JJ as she sat down beside Morgan. JJ nodded as she took a bite from her lasagne.

"No more than thirty, I'd say." She agreed.

"That's like, almost the same age as your Dad, JJ." Morgan said, as if he was making a point. "Are you telling me you'd go out with somebody as old as your dad?" Both Emily and JJ cringed simultaneously at the mental image.

"No, Derek, that's not what I'm saying at all. What I am saying however, is that he's got the cutest smile." JJ looked to Emily for confirmation and she nodded as she chewed her food. "And he's hot." She added. Emily almost choked on her apple at the shocked and outraged expression on Morgan's face.

Before their bantering could continue, a small, hesitant figure approached the table, clutching a brown paper bag. Emily looked up and swallowed her chew before smiling at Spencer.

"Spencer, hey!" Emily greeted. Morgan and JJ also said their hellos before returning to a conversation between the two of them. "How are you going?" Emily asked. Spencer shrugged, trying to act dismissing but a soft blush which crept up his cheeks gave him away. "You alright?" She asked him.

"Yeah, I mean, psychically, I'm fine." He replied, fingering his brown bag, not making eye-contact with Emily. They stood in silence for a few moments before Spencer sighed and looked up to Emily. "Uh, yeah, just wanted to say hi." He said lamely.

"Um, okay." Emily replied creasing her eyebrows at Spencer's lost expression.

"See you around." He said before turning away. It took Emily a few seconds, but then the realisation crushed upon her. Why else would a new kid, who is two years younger than everybody else in his year walk over to probably one of the only people who had made an effort to befriend him, lunch bag in hand?

"Spencer! Wait!" Emily called as she stood up, fully prepared to catch up to Spencer if he didn't turn. Luckily for her, he did turn around at the sound of his name. "Come sit with us." She offered. Spencer looked hesitant. JJ and Morgan were looking between Spencer and Emily curiously, knowing that Emily didn't normally make such an effort to include somebody outside her friendship circle.

"Sure, I mean, I'd love to, thanks." Spencer replied, making his way over to the table again and sitting down. Conversation resumed again on the table, and for a few minutes, Spencer sat awkwardly, not really involving himself, until he picked up of Morgan complaining about a question in maths he didn't understand, and Spencer jumped in, involving himself in a territory of conversation he could work.

Emily smiled appreciatively at Morgan, who pretended to be enjoying Spencer's _extremely _thorough explanation of how to answer the question. When Morgan met Emily's eye, he simply winked at her, turning his attention back to Spencer.

It took a few weeks for Spencer to be able to comfortably walk up to the table at recess and lunch without asking for permission to sit. He no longer needed to be prompted to involve himself in conversation, adding facts and statistics wherever he saw fit. Emily would never say it aloud, but she was proud of the timid boy she had met three weeks ago, and how he had opened up so much in such a short amount of time.

Despite how quickly the weeks had gone past, Emily felt like the school year couldn't possibly go any slower. Lessons like Maths and History dragged on for what felt like hours instead of forty minutes, and she quickly found herself eagerly waiting for her English class every day, which seemed to be the only place which had the time flying past.

Mr Hotchner quickly became Emily's favourite teacher, and Aaron surprised himself when he realised that Emily was his favourite student. He never wanted to be the teacher who selected a 'favourite', not wanting to make it seem like he was more interested in one student's learning over another's. But with Emily, he couldn't seem to help it. Every class discussion, he always found she had something insightful and exciting to say, and in the times where they had to work by themselves, she worked silently and diligently.

'_She's a model student.'_ Aaron said to himself as he marked her long response question on Hamlet. He studied her handwriting, and it wasn't cursive or girly like many others he had seen over the course of his marking, but hers was more defined, it had more personality. She wrote in block letters, but her letters began to join together as she wrote more enthusiastically. Aaron graded the response and she had gotten the top mark out of the ones he had seen so far.

A soft knocking at his classroom door attracted his attention. And for a split second, he thought it was going to be Emily, and he thought that he would be able tell her what her mark was in private, just to see her smile as she silently congratulated herself.

It wasn't Emily though, it was David Rossi. He assumed he was touching base with the newest teacher at the school, checking to see if he was holding up okay. Aaron put away the Hamlet questions as David walked in.

"Aaron, hey, how's it going?" The deputy asked casually, an easy smile gracing his middle-aged facial features, as he pulled out a student's chair to sit on.

"Not bad, David, I was just marking some extended responses on Hamlet I asked the year 12's to do, the year 8 class are working well, year 10 and 11 are a little distracted however, but I guess they'll settle in soon once they find their rhythm." David smiled at Aaron, there were not many teachers which could fit into a new school and gain control over his students with such ease as he managed to without the use of any intimidating threats of detentions.

"Call me Dave, please." Dave responded. Aaron nodded in acknowledgement. "You're going well Aaron. I'm not here to praise you like a small child who needs confidence, but I still feel it's important to let you know you're going the right track. I always hear that the year 10s are the worst, but they eventually settle down. Most of the time." Aaron laughed softly. "So, any particular students giving you any grief?" Dave asked.

"No, not really. There is the occasional disturbance, but they quickly return back to their set work." Aaron explained. Dave, to his surprise, started to laugh.

"I bet they do. I would hate to be on the receiving end of a glare coming from you." He joked and Aaron smiled along with him.

"I'm not all bad. The year 12 class saw me smile a few times." Aaron defended weakly. The two men chuckled before shaking their heads.

"How is your year 12 class? I know that many of them were hesitant about getting a new teacher, everything holding up okay?" Dave asked, back to his informal check-up.

"They are marvellous. They work well, extremely cooperative. One of the best I've taught to far." Aaron commented, idly realised he wasn't talking about the whole class, but his thoughts more focused on one student in particular.

"Who's the favourite?" Dave asked casually. Aaron looked into the older man's eyes, wondering if he had just read his thoughts.

"I don't have a favourite." Aaron answered, trying to sound as honest as he could. Dave however, just laughed.

"Of course you do. Each teacher always has a favourite. The student who always does the work, who never brings your temper to a boil, has a positive influence on her peers, always exceeds your expectations?" Dave prodded with raised eyebrows. Aaron sighed.

"Emily Prentiss fits that description rather well." Aaron admitted. "She has a drive for learning, hardly needs any motivation from me to complete her work to excellent standards." Dave nodded knowingly.

"Yes, I've heard quite a bit about her from the other teachers. Every subject is the same, always on top of the coursework, contributing where necessary, non-disruptive." Dave continued before sighing. "Her mother pushes her a lot, though. You may not see it now, but give it a few months. The pressure to always achieve better than perfect results from her mother really wears her down." Dave shook his head. "She had a bit of a breakdown last year when the pressure of the yearlies got to her. I calmed her down in my office of course, but when I mentioned that I'd ring her mother to talk to her about the stress she was under, she begged me not to." Dave had a regrettable look on his face. "I wish I had called her though, because I don't think her mother realises the stress our young Emily is under."

"That's terrible." Aaron commented with a frown, his mind racing through every lesson with Emily to see if he could pick up on any signs that she wasn't handling the coursework.

"Indeed." Dave nodded. He stood up, tucking the chair back under the desk. "Anyway, it was a good chat Aaron, I'm glad to see you've settled in well." Dave smiled. Aaron replied with his thanks and walked Dave to the classroom door. "Oh, and Aaron, can I ask a favour?" Dave asked before leaving.

"Of course." Aaron answered.

"Keep an eye on Emily. I can see she has developed a fondness for not only this class, but you as a teacher. Maybe just check up on her every now and again to make sure she's coping." Aaron nodded, he could do that. "Excellent. Thank you, I would do it myself, but I feel it would be a little imposing, having the deputy question you about your feelings." Dave smiled. "Thanks Aaron, it means a lot. We wouldn't want somebody as talented as Emily to crumble with the pressure of her final year of school. I think she just needs somebody to talk to. She is a rather exceptional student." Dave added as he left the room. Aaron closed the door behind the deputy before making his way back to his seat and pulled out the papers to finish marking so he could hand them back next lesson.

"I quite agree with you, Dave." Aaron mumbled to himself as he corrected the spelling of one of the students. "She is rather exceptional."


	3. His Hands

**Thank you all for the lovely reviews :D They make my day! Hope you enjoy the chapter :) xx**

* * *

"Damn." Morgan sighed as he slopped onto the couch in Emily's oversized room. "I never get over how comfortable this thing is." He said. Emily smiled as she dumped her bag next to Morgan's by her door and she shut it.

"Yeah, it's pretty good." She agreed before she landed face first onto her bed. They were silent for a few moments before Emily turned over so she was looking at Morgan. "So," she began with a slightly evil tint in her brown eyes. Emily sat up and tied her hair in a ponytail. "What the hell is up with you and Penelope?" The question had been bugging Emily for a while. Around week six of the first term, a new student came into their grade. At first glance, she was completely crazy looking. She had a wild sense of style and was so exuberant that it was a little overwhelming. But within five minutes of talking to her, Emily adored her. She had a fun, flirtatious attitude which transformed into a bubbly energy when you were around her. You couldn't help but smile when you had a conversation with Penelope Garcia.

"Nothing really," Morgan shrugged, as if he didn't really see why Emily was asking the question. "Just a little fun flirting, that's all." Emily hummed, making it very obvious that she didn't believe him, but didn't push it any further. "Hey, Em?"

"Yeah?"

"Is everything, you know, okay with you?" Morgan asked hesitantly, sitting up on the two seater couch. Emily studied Morgan carefully for a very long time before letting out a soft sigh. She knew that he was only asking because she was one of his best friends, but she couldn't hide the twinge of annoyance she always felt when people tried digging around in her past or feelings.

"Everything's fine, Morgan." Emily replied, trying to make her voice sound less tired than she actually was. "Just, getting a little anxious about the holidays, that's all. You know, studying for the exams in term 2." Morgan eyed her not in a suspicious way, but in more of a concerned brother kind of way.

"You know you can always come to me, Emily, right?" He asked softly. This is what she really loved about him, he never prodded where he knew she didn't want him prodding around in, but he would always push for her to get things off her chest, if only for her to be able to process her thoughts better.

"Derek," Emily began in a soft tone. She rarely used his first name, and when she did, it was during serious or emotional conversations. "Thank you. Thank you for always being there for me." Emily smiled softly at him. There was a moment of shared contentment between the two of them, and Morgan looked as if he was about to say something when there was a knocking on Emily's door. Sighing, she got up and unlocked it to meet the face of her mother.

"Emily, I need you to – Oh, good afternoon Derek." Her mother's tone of voice turned from a slightly exhausted frustration to her pleasant 'we have guests' voice when she saw Morgan sitting up from the couch.

"Afternoon Mrs Prentiss. How have you been lately?" Morgan asked politely. Emily's mum gave him a tight lipped smile before she replied.

"Oh, I've been good, thank you. I was just about to come up here to see if Emily had started her homework yet; I didn't know she was bringing somebody over." The way she toned her words had Emily inwardly groaning at her mother. Had it been anybody but Morgan (or JJ) in her room, she would feel the overwhelming need to blubber apologies to them. However, her friends had (sadly) gotten used to the slightly rude and blunt ways of Mrs Elizabeth Prentiss.

"We were about to start making notes for Law, mother." Emily said pointedly, giving her mother a look. Elizabeth looked between Emily and Morgan a few times before giving them something which was meant to look like a smile, but came out as something more of a grimace.

"Lovely. Well, I'll leave you two to it then." Elizabeth concluded. Just as she was about to shut the door behind herself, she looked over her shoulder to Emily and continued, "Emily, darling, please don't lock the door," Before exiting her room.

Completely disregarding her mother's request, Emily locked the door with exaggeration motions which caused Morgan to smile a little.

"Damn. I…God." Emily sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I'd apologise on the behalf of her…but…" Morgan waved his hands dismissively.

"Don't even worry about it. I'm used to it by now." He gave Emily a crooked smile but Emily just groaned.

"That's what I was afraid of." She mumbled, before being true to her word and pulling out her Law textbook with Morgan and they began to make notes on the new topic.

* * *

_Emily seems more distracted than usual._ Aaron noted to himself as he watched the students work on drafting their essays. _Distracted would be an understatement._ He corrected himself. The only progress he could see that Emily had made was that she picked up her pen and wrote the date on the corner of the page; that was almost eighty minutes ago.

Aaron sighed, he figured that perhaps he would talk to Emily today, like Dave had suggested all those weeks ago. The first term was about to end, and about halfway through term two the year 12's would be having their first lot of examinations and submissions of assignments. Although it wasn't like Emily to not be on top of her work, it seemed as though something was clearly bothering her.

The bell rang for the end of the English double lesson, and for the start of the five minute break between classes. Students began immediately packing their bags to go to the next class when Aaron stood up to address them all.

"I want a completed, edited draft for the next lesson. I'll try my best to get around to all of you seeing as we have a double lesson and read your introductions and first body paragraphs to see if you're going on the right track." The class moaned a little at the homework, but made no outright complaints. "And Emily?" Emily's head snapped up at her name being called. "A word please?" The brunette nodded hesitantly at her teacher before casting a glance back to Morgan, JJ, Penelope and Spencer as they left the classroom; Spencer giving her an encouraging smile, Penelope giving her a saucy wink, JJ had a sympathetic expression on her face and Morgan had a slightly concerned one. As each of the students left the classroom one by one, Aaron took his seat behind his desk while Emily stood awkwardly about a meter away from it.

"You can sit down you know." Aaron offered with a smile to an obviously nervous Emily. Emily blushed and pulled up a chair and sat in front of his desk. They sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the laughter, chatter, and footsteps of the school kids walking to their next class, before a bell rang starting the next lesson of the day. Then there was complete silence.

"Am I in trouble?" Emily finally asked with uncertainty. She had never spoken out of term in class, always handed homework in on time, never been disruptive in any way; so she had no idea what Mr Hotchner would want to talk to her about which was so important it was pulling her out of her Maths class – not that she was very disappointed in missing it.

"No, of course not. You are an exceptional, cooperative student who is a pleasure to teach. You are by no means in trouble of any sort." Aaron assured. Emily relaxed marginally which Aaron was pleased about.

"Then, if you don't mind me asking, why am I here?" Aaron sighed, not sure how to broach the subject. Never before had he attempted to get to know a student on a more personal level; or anybody for that matter. He generally kept to himself, not seeing the need of having a long-term relationship of any kind. So how does he broach any form of personal topic with one of his students he's known for barely two months?

"I just wanted to see how you are going." Aaron stated as casually as he could, mentally smacking himself in the face at the phrasing. Emily raised a surprised eyebrow, but showed no other change of emotion. "See…I just wanted to make sure you've been…coping well with the pressure of year 12 so far." Aaron tried to channel Dave through his words, but they seemed to be coming off more impersonal and intruding than he would like. Aaron could see Emily's hesitation in answering the question, her body language closing herself off the Aaron's questions. Sighing, Aaron muttered under his breath _this is never going to work_ before standing up from his chair, and pulling another student chair quite close to Emily…

Too close perhaps.

"Is everything okay, Emily? You seemed fairly distracted today. Now I understand there are just some days where you don't want to be doing anything, but I just wanted to make sure that it wasn't something more serious plaguing your mind." Aaron tried to express his honest concern through his eyes as he made steady eye-contact with Emily. The room felt a little stuffy, despite them being the only two people in it. Emily's breathing seemed to have halted, and Aaron was worried for a moment that she was going to pass out before Emily let in a deep breath and sighed, only breaking eye contact on the exhale, before looking back into Aaron's eyes again.

Emily found herself overwhelmed by the sincere emotions of concern and caring which seemed to roll over Mr Hotchner's body. It made her feel warm, secure…but most of all she felt she was talking to a man that she could trust with her feelings. Not a teacher, but a _man_. It sounded silly in her mind, but at that moment Emily didn't see the two of them as student and teacher, but as two friends. Odd, because never had they had any personal conversations of any kind. Something which surprised Emily was that she didn't feel any of the annoyance she had felt when Morgan asked her the same question a few days ago, rather she felt…cared for. It was a good feeling, she found, and she wanted it to last. Before she even realised it, the words were tumbling out of Emily's mouth.

"I'm just starting to feel anxious again." Emily explained, looking down to see that she was playing with her finger nails again. "I just feel this impending doom which is looming over me, and I feel as if no matter how hard I try, and no matter the results I achieve, I'm always failing one way or another." As Emily spoke, her finger nails were cutting into her thumb harder and harder. She hadn't even noticed the increase in tempo until her fidgeting was stilled by a large, warm hand which enveloped both of hers.

Emily tried not to widen her eyes at the touch, but the feeling brought a wave of emotion through her stomach which washed away all rationality, and the only thought in her mind was that she wanted that hand of his in more places than where is was currently situated. Seeming to miss the internal emotional havoc which was inside of Emily at the moment, Mr Hotchner squeezed Emily's fingers in a soft, tight kind of way; a way that made Emily feel like she was safe.

The two sat in a silence for what felt like forever. Emily was trying to battle the overwhelming urge to look away from the deep intruding gaze of her teacher, thinking that if she looked into those eyes, those eyes which were wide with concern, for a moment longer…she wasn't sure what she would do. Casting her gaze to her lap, Emily studied the way Mr Hotchner's hand so easily cupped both of hers. Not having his emotion-filled eyes to distract her thoughts, Emily became acutely aware of how her fingertips tingled at the contact. She could feel his eyes studying her face and Emily chewed on her lip while she tried to think of anything but how she thought she could almost feel his breath on her neck.

Maybe she was just getting a little carried away.

She shocked herself, it's not as if she's never had sexual feelings for somebody, I mean, come on, she's a 17, almost 18 year old female. It would be strange if she hadn't had feelings like these for someone. But it was the fact that it was for her English teacher, a man she could never satisfy her sudden hunger for, made it all the more frustrating.

Aaron's eyes studied the younger girl's features, wondering what she was thinking so deeply about. On one hand, he wanted to ask, to be invited into her thoughts, but on the other Emily's momentary distraction was giving him the opportunity to look over her facial features in a more…private way. He had forgotten everything at this point. Where he was, what time of the day it was, the fact that he was sitting with his student…

Aaron snapped out of his thoughts just then, and a flood of panic washed through him. _His student_. He repeated in his head. He examined how close he was sitting next to her, and how Emily's eyes were trained upon his hands which were cupping her own, and his mind began to race.

_Shit. Dammit Aaron you stupid, stupid fucking…_

"Sorry, I just got lost in my thoughts then." Emily's eyes met Aaron's unexpectedly and in the second their eyes connected again he forgot what he was worrying about.

_She has the most beautiful eyes…_

"You can always come to me; you know that right, Emily?" Aaron said, staring deeply into Emily's eyes. "About any problem you may be having, whether it be English related or not. I'm always here for you to talk to if you need." Emily felt too emotionally overwhelmed to speak, so she only nodded her head and gave Mr Hotchner a weak, but hopefully reassuring smile that she was all right. They kept eye-contact for a few more minutes, _'Just to make sure she was really okay.'_ He told himself when he thought of their conversation later on. "Okay, well, I've kept you out of class for long enough, let me write you a note for being late." Mr Hotchner got up and the second his hand left hers, Emily felt as if a cold bucket of water just covered her face and body, clearing her mind from the haze which it was in just a few seconds earlier. Mr Hotchner handed her the note, giving Emily one of those rare, dimple-faced smiles which warmed the very core of her stomach.

"Thanks sir, for everything." Emily returned Mr Hotchner's smile easily. She surprised herself at how at ease she felt around him, at how everything just felt so _natural_.

"Anytime Emily, I mean that. Whenever you want or need to talk, my door is always open for you." Mr Hotchner replied smoothly. Although he didn't show it on his face for Emily to see, he had surprised himself at how easily the promise fell from his lips, and how he knew that he was going to keep that promise. Emily just responded by smiling back at her teacher, before walking out of the classroom, casting one last quick glance over her shoulder, meeting Mr Hotchner's eye again before closing the classroom door behind her.

* * *

The rest of the day dragged on a lot longer than usual. Lunch was surprisingly uninteresting for Emily, she just wished she could go home all ready and ponder her little meeting with Mr Hotchner over the weekend. JJ and Morgan had asked her what they had talked about, but Emily merely shrugged, saying that he was just checking if she was all right. Reid gave Emily a curious glance, but said nothing. Because he was in her maths class, he was there in the classroom when Emily walked into the lesson with fifteen minutes to spare, and Emily knew that Reid must have known that she and Mr Hotchner had talked about something else apart from how she was going for her to be gone for twenty-five minutes. Emily was very grateful that he didn't say anything about it.

Finally, after the bus ride home and after catching up on the missed math work, Emily crawled into bed at nine at night, exhausted. She closed her eyes and that night was the first night she dreamt of her English teacher and his large, warm hands in a way that was sure to make the older man blush if he ever knew.


	4. And So They TalkAnd Not Much Happens

**So sorry for the delay in this chapter! So much has been happening right now that I haven't been able to focus long enough to start writing something down! But better late then never, right?  
Thank you all to the lovely people to followed/favourited/reviewed, reading those reviews always makes me smile :)  
Enjoy the chapter, not much is happening as such, but things are going to be picking up from here on in ;)  
xx**

* * *

She was focusing on nothing that was going on around her. She could hear Morgan and Penelope in the background bickering and flirting, JJ talking loudly to someone on the phone, and Spencer was scribbling at the speed of light some extra maths work he picked up from the teacher in today's lesson.

Staring at the food tray in front of her, Emily lost her appetite. Pushing around her now cold lasagne with her fork, Emily pondered, again, about what happened with her and Mr Hotchner last Friday. She wasn't sure what she was expecting in today's class…perhaps an extra smile her way? A 'good morning, Emily' maybe? What she wasn't expecting, however, was to receive the cold shoulder from her teacher, picking on other students to answer the questions and to read aloud. His behaviour had been…unsettling. Emily wondered if it was to do with their talk on Friday. _It probably is_. Emily thought sourly to herself. All she wanted was for him to recognise her at least, not treat her like an annoying student who doesn't do any work. Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice Spencer was trying to get her attention until he began to poke her arm.

"Spencer, sorry, just thinking about things." Emily apologised, turning and smiling at the younger boy.

"Oh, its fine, I just wanted to see if you were okay." Spencer smiled back up to Emily, an expression of pure innocence. Emily wondered for a moment how that innocent expression would morph into shock, perhaps disgust, if he found out how she was feeling about their English teacher.

"I'm okay, just…stressed I guess." Emily replied after a little while, looking out of the window of the cafeteria. Spencer nodded and turned his head to the large, wall length window also.

"About school?" Spencer assumed.

"No, well, yes, in part." Emily fumbled over her words, thinking about how to phase her concerns and feelings and keep the subject of her concerns and feelings anonymous. "There's this…boy…" Emily began, almost cringing at having to describe Mr Hotchner as a 'boy'. "And I think, no, I _know_ I like him a lot more than I should, than what is _appropriate_, and he is ignoring me now and I feel terrible because I know it's something I did wrong and I just want to make it better because I just want to see him smile at me again." Letting out a small sigh, a weight was lifted off her chest as having let out the thoughts which have been tumbling through her head since the English class.

Spencer was silent. Emily didn't really expect him to have any advice to give her, but it was nice to have him there to talk to. They sat in silence as Spencer racked his big brain for something constructive to say to Emily. If she wasn't so distressed about the situation, she'd find the slight crease in his brow and the tiny pout of his lips adorable. He was so far out of his comfort zone that for once, Spencer didn't know what to say.

"Have you…um, I'm not sure this may seem silly, but have you talked to him? About it? Um, about your feelings I mean?" Emily raised an eyebrow at Spencer and thought about it.

_No. _She thought. _I haven't talked about it with him. But what am I meant to say? "Hi, Mr Hotchner, sorry to disrupt your free time, but I'm just curious, do you think we had a moment on Friday? 'Cause it felt like a moment to me, but I'm kind of confused about where you stand on the matter. Well, get back to me when you can, see you next lesson!" No. I do not think so._

Emily sighed and was about to put her head in her hands, but changed her mind as she didn't want to draw attention to how she was feeling.

"Thanks, Spence." Emily smiled at her youngest friend. "That helped." Not that his advice was much of great benefit, but the smile on his face when Emily said it was, was so bright it could light up a Christmas tree.

"I'm glad I could help. You can come to me whenever you need to." Emily gave him a pat on the shoulder as Spencer turned back to his work book to finish up the extra work.

Again, Emily found herself sitting with her thoughts, and the more she thought about what Spencer said, the more she warmed up to the idea.

_You don't have to be so straight forward about it. Just go and ask him if he is mad at you. Yeah, that's all right, perfectly innocent, right?_

Not giving herself a chance to second guess herself, Emily slung her bag over her shoulder and picked up her food tray, told her friends she was going to ask Mr Hotchner about some English work, and went off, dumping her uneaten lunch on the way, missing Spencer's surprised expression.

* * *

With a frustrated groan, Aaron threw his red pen on his desk and put his head in his hands. He's tried everything to keep his mind off it, but no matter how interesting or appealing (or boring) the task he had assigned himself had been, it just couldn't hold his attention. He found himself constantly thinking of deep, brown eyes, and soft, warm hands.

"No." He said quietly to himself, firmly. "Don't be stupid, Aaron. She's at least ten years younger than you, and not to mention, _your student_."

He felt absolutely disgusted with himself. Not only hadn't be been able to keep his mind off his favourite student, but even in his dreams he saw her smiling face. Nothing erotic, thank God, but the fact her face was even present is a cause for concern. Perhaps he should resign, quit before things get any worse, before anyone starts asking questions, before-

"Mr Hotchner?" Aaron didn't even have to turn around, didn't even have to look at the door to know whose body that voice belonged to. That voice, it was so timid. Was she frightened? No. He would absolutely hate himself if he had caused her to be frightened of him. Apprehensive? More likely. He had made a bit of a show in ignoring her today in class. She probably thinks she's done something wrong.

_No, Emily. Not you. Me however…yes, I've done everything wrong._

"Emily come in, please, take a seat." Aaron said as he sat in one of the student chairs in the second row.

_No, no, don't come in. Not that seat, not so close. Aaron, stop, why are you smiling at her. You're meant to be distancing yourself from her remember what you decided on Friday night? Now she's smiling back. Oh no, her Emily. I can feel my insides melting. Fucking hell, I sound like a hormonal teenage girl. Which is exactly what Emily Prentiss is. Fuck, Aaron, you're so fucking screwed. Fucking, fuck, fuck, fuck-_

"Thank you for seeing me, I know you're probably busy." Aaron watched as she played with the hem of her shirt, not meeting his eye. He hated that, he hated that she couldn't look at him.

_You made her uncomfortable, that's what it is. She could probably sue you. Make a big deal of it too, her mother's quite the big shot. Fuck Aaron you're going down._

"I'll always have time to talk to you, Emily, don't worry about it." Aaron spoke without thinking, a smile gracing his lips easily as Emily looked up and met his eye. He couldn't articulate the feeling which seeped through his core when Emily smiled back at him. Only that he loved it and wanted more of it. So much more. More than he could ever ask her to give; than she could _ever_ give.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, teacher and student. There was an electricity buzzing between them that Aaron couldn't seem to ignore. He wanted desperately to reach out, to touch her hand again to see if it was a soft as he remembered but didn't dare to even twitch his fingers. He kept them firmly planted in his lap in fists so tight that his fingernails were cutting into his palms. Aaron didn't doubt that he would have looked obviously uncomfortable, despite his smile, but the alternative, to relax, could have consequences that he didn't want to imagine.

Emily was smart, she noticed the signs, both subtle and obvious, that her teacher was stressed and feeling awkward and uncomfortable. However she didn't leave, she didn't want to. She would rather put up with an awkward and uncomfortable Mr Hotchner, then a silent and cold one. The silent and cold Mr Hotchner tore her heart in ways that she didn't like.

"I…I'm sorry."

Her words where not what he was expecting. What was he even expecting? He didn't know. Not in the slightest. Maybe yelling? Tears? Anger?

"I've obviously made you uncomfortable," Emily pointed out, gesturing to his hands. At this, Aaron released his fists and placed them flat on his lap. Emily was silent for a few moments, watching his hands as if to see if they'd start fidgeting again; they didn't, so Emily continued. "I was probably way out of line on Friday. I'm not really sure what happened, just that it was nice…comfortable." Aaron watched as Emily frowned, obviously battling her conflicting emotions just as Aaron was.

"There is no need for you to apologise, Emily." Aaron spoke softly, making eye contact with her vivid eyes which were alight, grasping on to his every word. "It was me who was out of line…I do not know what came over me, I was just trying to comfort you. But my behaviour today was rash and unneeded. I regret deeply that you had to feel, even for a moment, that the way I was acting was because of something you thought you had done." Aaron smiled at her, and was extremely pleased with himself when she returned a genuine smile of her own.

They sat in a silence for a minute or so. Not an uncomfortable or awkward one, but a pleasant one. The types of silences you come across when people who have been a couple for years are sitting drinking their morning coffee or reading a book. A silence which wasn't to ignore or to shift the topic of conversation, but the silence which was appreciating another's company.

_I wish you weren't my student. _Aaron found himself thinking before he even knew what he was thinking of. The quietness had gone for too long, and his thoughts had strayed into dangerous territories.

"I'm glad you came by, Emily." Aaron said honestly as he stood up. He almost put his hand out to help Emily up, but thought better of it.

"I'm glad I came by." Emily replied, her tone far more confident and cheerful than when she had arrived. Aaron thought for a moment she was about to give him a hug, but she seemed to think better of it. "Um, well, thank you, again." Emily shifted her weight on her feet awkwardly, playing with her hands. "I better get back to lunch, my friends are probably wondering where I am…"

"Of course. I should get back to work, I still have some marking to do…"

The silence was deafening.

Neither moved.

Aaron knew he needed to take charge, to take responsibility, but a part of him, a small, but very loud and disrupting part of him, was begging for Emily to stay a little longer.

"Well, see you next lesson, Mr Hotchner!" Emily gave Aaron a cheery wave and turned and walked out of the class room without a backwards glance, shutting the door on her way out.

Aaron stood there for a moment, his eyes transfixed at where Emily's figure just disappeared past the door and couldn't think clearly. His mind was racing, thoughts of Emily, not as his student, but as an acquaintance, as a friend, as a…

_No, you need to stop this, right now._

Aaron let out a dejected sigh and fell back into the chair and stared out of the classroom window where some students were racing around each other, talking, laughing, without a care in the world. Where in the confines of his classroom walls, Aaron was slowly falling apart to the likes of one, Emily Prentiss.

_Fucking hell, Aaron. You messed up son-of-a-bitch._ Aaron shook his head, and allowed himself to wallow in his self-pity for a little longer before hauling himself off the chair and back to his desk to finish marking his year 8's essays.

But no matter how hard he tried to decipher the messy scrawl of the junior students, his mind never once stopped thinking about her. Her eyes. The eyes which held so much emotion he thought he would fall into them if he stared hard enough. Aaron rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms, groaning softly.

_You messed up son-of-a-bitch._


	5. Oh Shit

**I was going to do this chapter in two separate ones but then it would just drag on too long and I like the way it's set out as one big chapter. This is a long chapter, double of a normal chapter, but it is so worth it :D**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I loved reading every one of them! Enjoy this chapter! Xx**

* * *

"How ya goin' baby?" Morgan sung easily as he flung his arm over Emily's shoulder. Rolling her eyes, she shrugged it off and have him a mock glare.

"I am not _your_ baby." Emily replied back with a laugh.

"Ah, but you are _somebody's _baby?" He challenged. Spencer, walking silently beside the two of them looked up from Morgan to Emily in curiosity, who didn't even have time to blush and stammer out a reply before JJ came running towards them.

"Guys, you will never believe this." Her pink lips drew back into an impossibly larger smile as she practically bounced on her feet towards them. "Will is coming here! For a holiday! In two weeks!"

"Will?" Emily asked in confusion. "Your Will? From Hawaii?" JJ nodded her head enthusiastically, her eyes alight with excitement. "I didn't know you were still in touch with him." Emily said honestly. Morgan and JJ looked at her for a few seconds before she answered.

"I've been talking to him almost every day for hours since I came back, Em." She raised her eyebrows and exchanged a look with Morgan. "Where have _you_ been?" Emily frowned and looked to the ground. _Where have I been…so absorbed in my own petty life that I've neglected my best friends?_

"Nah, don't take it personally JJ, Prentiss is just caught up with her new boyfriend she hasn't told us about." Emily's head snapped up and she glared at Morgan for real.

"I do _not_ have a boyfriend, Morgan." She said sharply, but it only evoked a smirk from Morgan and an interested eyebrow raise from JJ.

"Oh really? No boyfriend? Not even some guy you've been havin' your eye on?" Emily's stomach dropped. _Had they noticed? Do they know how I feel about -?_

"_Derek_." Emily looked him in the eye. "Drop it."

"So there is some one?" JJ chimed in with a teasing smile. "Do tell us about him." Emily stood rooted on the spot, refusing to look at either of her friends, but at the passing students as they roamed the grounds with their friends, waiting for class to start.

"Oh maybe it's not a him..?" Morgan suggested with a wink towards JJ when Emily didn't reply.

"Oh, how interesting. But I think we would have figured out if Em was gay by now for sure, don't you think?" JJ mused, sneaking a glance at Emily.

"I dunno Jayje, she's pretty good at keeping things a secret from us…who knows who she is secretly taking up to that big double bed of hers?" Morgan replied back, stifling a laugh. They were just trying to evoke a reaction out of her, and Emily knew it. Often in the past when JJ and Morgan pushed enough they managed to get Emily to spill the beans out of sheer frustration, but this time, she was determined to not say a thing.

"Or maybe…" But JJ never got to finish her sentence as the bell rang across the school grounds, signalling the beginning of another dreary maths lesson for Emily.

* * *

"Spencer, hey, you all right?" Emily asked as the younger boy sat down in his usual seat beside her as the teacher handed out a surprise quiz.

"Yep, yes, of course, why wouldn't I be?" Spencer smiled up at Emily but when Emily's eye bore curiosity and disbelief into Spencer's, he couldn't hold her gaze. "We should start the quiz." He said quickly before beginning to scribble down the answers.

The whole lesson, Spencer seemed to have an excuse to not talk to Emily. He made it look like he was focusing hard on what the teacher was saying, and feigning a troubled expression as he went about doing his work, but Emily knew this was all an elaborate act, because she had seen him about three weeks ago blitzing through this exercise in the extra work he picked up from their teacher.

_He doesn't want to talk to me…_ Emily thought to herself as she snuck a glance to Spencer who was unusually distracted, staring at his page in deep thought, but not about the numbers and equations which were in front of him. _And I want to know why._

"Listen, Spencer, you can act all you want that you're trying to understand the maths problems when you and I both know you've completed the exercise three times over in your head. But…" Emily hesitated, she kept looking at her page while Spencer started at his own, neither willing to make eye-contact. It all felt so awkward for some reason. Sighing, Emily continued. "But if you're mad at me because of something I've said or done, I'm really sorry." Emily looked up, hoping to catch Spencer's eye but he was determinately staring at what was directly in front of him. Emily bit her lip and looked back down to her page. The numbers danced around artistically on her book, the equations forming into elaborate patterns and swirling around on her page in such a hypnotic way that it caused her head to spin. Blinking a few times, Emily rubbed her eyes and looked back at her page and the numbers and letters stayed where they should.

"It's nothing you've done, Emily." Spencer said suddenly, Emily had almost forgotten he was there. "I'm just…thinking about a few things." There was a silence which hung above the two friends for a few moments, and Emily wondered if that was the end of their conversation until Spencer continued. "My mind works differently than most, as I'm sure you've come to realise. I interact with others differently, I see things differently, and sometimes the barriers between relationships are a little blurred for me, which I guess allows me to pick up on things that most would simply overlook." Spencer looked over to Emily and met her eye, and they kept eye-contact for a steady five seconds before he continued in a hushed voice, several octaves lower, causing Emily to lean in to catch his words. "It doesn't take me a lot to get a picture of what's happening. Only because I'm not really sure what I am looking for when I start noticing the things people do. I just want you to be careful Emily, because if what I think is happening, _is_ happening, you're walking on very thin ice." He gave her a meaningful look and Emily felt that without a doubt Spencer knew, perhaps not to what extent, that Emily had some sort of inappropriate feelings towards their English teacher.

Not being able to hold his gaze any longer, Emily's eyes fell to her page where the numbers and letters started dancing around the page again, singing and laughing at her misfortune. The grids on her paper were no longer square, and with every breath Emily took, her chest constricted further. Closing her eyes, Emily quickly put into place the simple meditation techniques she'd been practicing twice a day since her meltdown last year, and she felt herself easily slip into a safe place, a bubble where her anxiety couldn't reach her. She envisioned being wrapped up nice and tight in warm, strong hands which were slowly running up and down her back, calming her down. She timed her breathing with the steady heartbeat which was thudding softly in the chest she was resting her head on. He was calling her name, softly, but she couldn't quite catch it. His voice became clearer, but it wasn't the voice which belonged to the man in her fantasy.

"Emily, are you all right?" Spencer asked anxiously, putting a hand to Emily's arm. Emily looked down at the hand in shock, Spencer wasn't the one who initiated affection or comfort. Emily relished the moment while it lasted.

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?" She asked him, looking up to meet concerned eyes. Spencer frowned at Emily.

"Well…you just closed your eyes and didn't respond to me for about five minutes..?" Spencer trailed off, waiting for an explanation. Emily smiled easily back at Spencer.

"Oh, don't worry about that, I was just doing some quick meditation. It helps me when I start to get too nervous about something, mentally takes me to another place to calm down, you know?" Spencer's frown didn't lesson.

"I didn't meant to make you feel nervous…"

"Oh, I know, don't worry. It's just the way I react to things sometimes, has nothing to do with you." The bell rang and the two friends started to pack their books up, getting ready for their next class, Spencer having Physics and Emily having Law.

Emily sat in her usual seat, waiting for Morgan to come and sit beside her. She didn't bother unpacking her books, knowing that they were just going to continue watching the insanely boring black and white documentary about the conviction and persecution of petty crimes, and all the legal crap that goes along with it. Their usual teacher is away all week from the flu, so she's just given the subs a bunch of videos for the class to watch; the teacher never trusting substitutes to teach her lessons.

Morgan sat down just as their teacher for the day walked into the class room, looking old enough to be an exhibit in a museum, trying to figure out how the DVD player worked. After about ten minutes of the teacher yelling at the student who tried to help her, she finally allowed one of the kids to put in the DVD and hit play.

Lights out, DVD in, and the only person who appeared to be interested in what the documentary was about was the tomb-stone teacher. Nobody spoke, maybe a few words exchanged between friends, but most had their heads on the table and were waiting for the forty minutes to be over all ready.

Emily glanced down when the corner of a piece of folded up paper jabbed her in the arm. Unfolding it, Emily recognised the surprisingly neat writing of Morgan.

_Sorry if JJ and I went too far this morning._

Emily started at the page for a few moments. _Was is only this morning? It feels like a whole other time ago…_She thought to herself as she scribbled a reply.

_Don't even worry about it. It's just what you guys do haha._

_But it annoyed you._

He didn't ask it as a question, and for a reason Emily couldn't place, it seemed to bother her.

_Yes._ She answered honestly, paused, then wrote; _but like I said, it's just how you guys are. I'm not gonna take it personally so just relax your hunched shoulders already._

Emily saw in the corner of her eye Morgan's lips crack up into a tiny smile.

_Sure thing, baby ;)_

_Man, what's with all the nicknames? Is Penelope not cutting it for you anymore?_

_Well she left last Saturday and ditched the last week of school to go visit her grandma, so I have no one to flirt with anymore._

_Gee, what a shame._

_I don't know what you're complaining about, because now you get my undivided attention again._

_And what makes you think I want that?_

_Because you've been ignoring me lately._

Emily paused, and looked at Morgan who was staring at the video which was doing a panning shot of all the case files they had open at the time in history that the video was made.

_I haven't been ignoring you, why would you say that?_

_Because I haven't had a proper conversation with you in almost eight weeks._

Emily looked at the page, confused. Surely she's talked to Morgan during school? She doesn't ignore him, she says hi in the mornings, asks him how his weekend was…

Emily realised guiltily that she hasn't been paying that much attention to her friends, or the outside world, lately.

_Sorry man, I really am. I've just been caught up in a lot of shit right now._

_I know, don't apologise. JJ and I understand. We just want to make sure you're okay._

So this is an intervention of sorts?

_I'm fine, don't even worry about it :)_

_Liar._

_Maybe._

_You can talk to us, you know? You don't have to keep these things to yourself._

But at that point the tomb-stone teacher somehow managed to sneak her way to the back of the class where Morgan and Emily were sitting, scrunched up the paper they were writing on, and tossed it across the room with surprising accuracy and the two best friends watched in amazement and shock as it landed cleanly in the bin on the other side of the room. Without a word, tomb-stone teacher walked back to her seat and resumed watching the movie. Emily and Morgan looked at each other, and the sheer amazement of what had just happened caused them both to have an uncontrollable urge to burst out laughing, which they had to stifle with the palms of their hands.

As their laughter died down, they shared a genuine smile before turning their heads to watch the "movie" that was playing for the rest of the lesson.

As a middle aged man started talking to the camera, Emily zoned out and thought about the last words Morgan wrote.

"_You don't have to keep these things to yourself."_

_Oh, Morgan, _Emily thought glumly to herself. _You don't understand how I really do._

* * *

"I trust that everyone had a completed second draft of their essay by now?" Aaron asked his year 12 class after they settled down in their seats. Most students had a carefree expression, not worrying about being caught without having completed the ongoing homework their teacher has assigned them. However, one nervous face caught his eye. "Good, I'd like you all to swap your essays with somebody in the room. You are to proof-read your partner's essay, adding in red annotations ways they can improve either the structure, punctuation, phrasing, or perhaps even content of their essay. Remember that the essays are due first lesson back of next term, this is your last week to work on them in class. Utilise your time, no talking, and provide the constructive criticism that you would like to receive yourself. Emily, could I speak with you outside for a moment?"

Aaron watched as the girl's face paled when her name was called, and maybe he was imagining the shakiness of her legs as they walked to the classroom door, but when Aaron closed the door of the room, leaving the two of them alone in the corridor, his student was definitely nervous, is was rolling off her in waves.

"Emily, how are you holding up with the assignment?" Aaron's voice had lowered into a calm and reassuring tone that he didn't realise he had in him. He was glad it was there though, because it caused Emily to look up in surprise, as if she was expecting to be yelled at. He watched as Emily struggled with what she wanted to say; tossing between telling the truth and lying to make her position seem a little better.

"Not good." She admitted, lowering her gaze to Aaron's polished shoes. Aaron wondered for a moment what she saw in them; if she saw a man who liked to keep appearances, or a man who is comfortable living life neat and with no risk. Aaron wondered why he cared about her opinion of him so much. "I feel like I don't know what I need to write. Where I should even start. Every time I try to everything I know about Hamlet just rolls around in my head and I can't focus on it. It's like this with all my subjects, not just English. Usually, I could just put these feelings in a box and move on, but since last year, it's getting increasingly harder to keep my emotions in check." She sighed and rubbed her forehead, and Aaron's gut clenched in the most unpleasant way as he saw just a fraction of how much Emily was struggling.

"Look, today, just try to work on getting some points and ideas down. Do you have a thesis statement yet?" Emily shook her head. "Okay, work on creating one. And if you manage to do that, which I don't doubt that you will, work on some big ideas you can talk about in your essay. Try think of two at least, and depending on how much you want to write on them, you may do another. But do this for today's lesson, then after school come back to the classroom and we'll look over them and start to construct a plan on how to turn your ideas into an essay. How does that sound?" Emily stared at Aaron for a few moments and he wondered if perhaps he overstepped his boundaries when she suddenly smiled and it washed away every concern he has ever had regarding her. It wasn't a huge, grinning smile, but a small, modest one. An appreciating one, a smile which said, _thanks for helping_ without using as many words. A smile which said…

_Woah, Aaron, you're reading a _little _too into this._ He smiled back at Emily, and they both agreed to meet after school, and Emily walked back into the class, feeling a lot better about English than at the beginning of the day.

The class worked diligently, and Aaron noted with pride how Emily worked hard to keep her end of the bargain up. She obviously didn't want to disappoint him when he had given her an extra chance. The bell rang and before Aaron knew it, the year twelves were gone and his year ten class were swarming in.

The rest of the day went painfully slow for Emily. The excitement of spending some alone time with her teacher was getting her through it, and she soon found herself walking down the corridor towards Mr Hotchner's class, playing with her fingers like there was no tomorrow. There were no other students around, seeing as most normal kids don't want to spend an extra moment at school then they need to. It was painfully quiet when Emily knocked on Mr Hotchner's door.

"Come in." There was a different way that he spoke his words, and when Emily went inside the class, she wondered if perhaps an alternate universe Mr Hotchner was in the room with her.

First of all, his jacket was off. Something that Emily and her fellow classmates have never seen before apart from that one sweltering hot day when even the pages on their desks were sweating. His hair was ruffled, but not dishevelled. He seemed less orderly and official, as if he were a good friend helping her out rather than her teacher. Emily walked in and sat at her desk, waiting for Mr Hotchner to make the first move. Rolling up his sleeves of his white-collared shirt, he pulled up a chair and sat beside Emily and looked at the notes she had made in today's lesson as she took them out.

They worked well together, productively, exchanging a few jokes and even a little well-mannered teasing. The relationship between student and teacher had been demolished and rebuilt into a budding friendship. They worked for a few hours, taking a breaks in between to sit back and learn more about the other. Emily mostly listened and asked question accordingly, as she didn't have much to offer in terms of life experiences, but she didn't mind. She could listen to Mr Hotchner talk about the places he's travelled to and life at UNI for hours. She could listen to him narrate her maths textbook and it would sound like the most interesting thing in the world to her. The things they discussed about were probably not suited for a student to hear about from their teacher, but all boundaries seemed to disappear while they talked.

"Do you have a girlfriend now?" Emily asked without thinking. She wasn't asking in an attempt to flirt, but it was just fitting to the conversation they were having, as he just talked about how he travelled through Europe last year with his girlfriend. It had surprised her when he said that, because he didn't seem like the type to go and travel with another person. The way he talked about the places he had gone to, his whole face transformed. His eyes lighted up like New York, and his face glowed in this pure youthfulness that she had never seen before. He didn't seem like the kind of person who would share that sort of intimacy with somebody else.

Aaron frowned at her question. He shouldn't answer it, he knows, because it isn't any of her business, but he really wants to let her know the answer to it.

"No, not anymore." He says. His voice has this finality in it that didn't promote Emily to question further, but not in a rude way. Deciding to move on, Aaron looked again at the essay structure they'd put together. It had good points, strong arguments, and wonderful and unique quotes to support them. He hadn't helped her much with it though, he was more of a support and motivating her to keep going when she started to doubt herself. "This is coming along very nicely, Emily." Aaron said proudly, giving Emily a smile. "And you've done it all yourself, I never told you what to write." Emily looked at her page and smiled. She was obviously calmer and more comfortable with how things were turning out.

"If during the holidays you find yourself struggling again, just ask Derek or Spencer to give you a hand. I am positive they would be more than willing to give you advice or just offer support. They value you as a friend greatly; and you being of the opposite gender also helps." Aaron spoke his last words in a joking manner with a small laugh, but he wasn't entirely comfortable with the thought of Derek or Spencer, while both very nice children, being alone with Emily behind closed doors.

Emily let out a short laugh and started shuffling her papers together, not meeting Aaron's eye.

"I'm pretty sure one needs to be attractive first before they can have men do things for them." Emily laughed again and looked into her hands, a sad smile on her face. Anger boiled up within Aaron faster than he thought was possible. How is it, that one of the most beautiful women he's ever laid eyes on could possible think of herself as unattractive? Impossible.

"Emily, look at me." Emily raised her eyes and she met Aaron's and they sat silently, tension rising and swirling around them like a thick fog. Aaron felt like he was suffocating, but in the best possible way. He could stare into her eyes for an eternity, being lost in the several different shades of brown he found within them. "Don't ever doubt for a moment that you are anything less than beautiful." Aaron spoke his words softly and with a passion that caused Emily to lift her chin up a fraction, a small smile on her face.

"Do you think I'm beautiful?" The innocence in her question, and the obviousness, to Aaron, of the answer caused his body to react in a way that was too fast for his mind to fully catch up.

His hand went for her cheek and Emily moved her face to nestle in it. His other hand moved to her hands and Emily lifted her fingers so they interwove with Aarons perfectly. She leaned her head forward slowly, keeping eye-contact with him, showing him that she wanted this too, that she felt this all too.

He moved his head forwards to that his forehead touched hers and they both closed their eyes. Their skins were both burning hot, but neither noticed. Aaron was buzzing, all he was capable in doing was feeling, and everything he had been locking away responsibly in the past about how he was feeling was smashing through his rationality, destroying everything expect the moment he was in.

They both moved forwards and pressed their lips together in a soft, tender and cautious movement. They pulled apart for a moment before Emily removed her hands from Aaron's grasp and wove her fingers through his hair and pulled him in for another kiss, a slow and passionate kiss. Aaron moaned quietly and wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her in closer to him, his fingertips tingling at touching her. His lips felt like they were ablaze, and when Emily bit on his lower lip lightly, teasingly, Aaron had to hold himself together to avoid growling like an animal.

Emily opened her mouth a little more and her tongue traced under Aaron's upper lip, asking per permission to proceed. Aaron opened his mouth wider, and his tongue met hers in a frenzied battle for dominance that Aaron let her win.

As she explored his mouth, Aaron explored her back. His hands running up and down, fingertips dancing over her spine, and soon massaging the back of her neck. Running his hands over her shoulders, which were exposed thanks to her singlet shirt, he marvelled at the smoothness of it, and wondered if the rest of her body was as soft to the touch as satin.

They pulled back to breathe, and rested their foreheads together as they caught their breaths. Aaron's hands were still on her shoulders, and Emily's fingers were tangled deep into Aaron's hair.

For a few blissful moments, they sat in silence, both recovering from the magnificence and power from the kiss. In this silence, Aaron's mind had a chance to catch up to his body, and he froze when he comprehended what had just happened, what he had just allowed to happen, what he had just initiated.

Aaron pulled away so suddenly that Emily almost fell forwards, but caught herself on her desk. She looked up, almost annoyed, but it disappeared the second she met Aaron's eyes which were alive with caution and fear. They sat in a silence and it felt like it lasted for hours but it probably lasted no more than thirty seconds, both waiting for somebody to say something. Finally, Aaron spoke.

"You need to go." He said firmly. His mind was working in overdrive, trying to do damage control and fix the situation and all he wanted to do was just forget anything had ever happened but he knew that wasn't likely. His guts were churning and his thoughts raced through everything from restraining orders to court hearings to media coverage and he began to panic.

Emily stared at Aaron in disbelief, and he could see in her eyes the confusion swimming around with sadness. She blinked a few times, before nodding slowly, picking up her things and leaving without another word.

The door shut softly, but Aaron felt like the sound broke his ear drums. _Did anyone see? Fuck Aaron, you sick son-of-a-bitch how could you let this happen? You're an adult, she's still a child! You're going to hell for this! Fuck you are out of your mind what the hell is wrong with you? Fucking hell. Fucking shit!_

Aaron got up and paced around the classroom. His lips were still burning from the kiss and his guts were churning and he thought for a horrifying moment he was going to throw up all over the floor. The image of Emily's hurt and broken eyes kept flashing in his mind and he felt sicker. Leaning heavily against one of the walls, he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to focus on his breathing, but all he could focus on was the way Emily's lips had moved so flawlessly against his own, as if they'd done so a million times before. And how he wanted that to happen again, and again, and again.

Aaron opened his eyes and looked at the door Emily just walked out of, his stomach wrenching and twisting in ways it really isn't meant to.

And then threw up in the trash can next to his desk.


	6. Someone Needs To Get Laid

**I'm so sorry this chapter took so long to post, I'm not particularly proud of that. But a lot of shit just happened all at once and I couldn't screw my head on long enough to write a decent chapter. But I hope the chapter makes up for it lovelies, even though it's kinda short :S  
Thank you all for the follows/favourites/reviews. They all make me very happy :) Much love xx**

* * *

The term was coming to a close and after Mr Hotchner told her to leave his room that afternoon, Emily had made no effort to contact him. She sat in class, moved to the back, and ignored her teacher while her English teacher ignored her. He never checked up on how she was going with her essay. Emily found herself a little disappointed by it, wanting an excuse to talk to her teacher, but also not wanting to be the one who made the first move. She knew what had happened, the _incident_ shouldn't have happened, but since his hot lips had touched hers, it's all she's been able to think about. His lips and his hands and his entire being and how she wanted his lips on her again and again and again and…

Emily blinked a few times, bringing herself back to the present. Lunch was especially boring, but there was an excited buzz in the air. It was the last day of term, there was only one more lesson to go till the holidays, and it was a double period of English. Emily just felt dread. A sinking feeling in her gut which had Emily paranoid that she'd throw up before the class even started. It happened before any English class now. Not because she was scared of her teacher, but because every time she tried to catch his eye he simply looked past her, like she was invisible, like an empty seat in his classroom.

It crushed her.

She figured he was doing it because he was trying to be 'responsible', but that didn't make anything easier to deal with. If anything, she was pissed off that he was just ignoring everything hoping that it would all go away if he closed his eyes and wished hard enough on a star.

"Child." She muttered under her breath.

"Huh?" Spencer asked next to her, looking up from his _Advanced II: Differentiation and Quadratics_ book he borrow from the library for, quoting the newly turned 16 year old, '_something to pass the time_'.

"Nothing, just thinking aloud." Emily smiled in what she hoped was a convincing way before she returned to her musings. She didn't have much time to over analyse and re-think every moment of that afternoon with Mr Hotchner because the bell rang signalling the end of lunch and Emily felt her heart drop into her stomach and the nauseousness increased ten-fold.

* * *

The lesson was terrible. There was no other way to describe it. The year 12 class had walked in hoping for a fairly easy going last lesson of term but Mr Hotchner was in a revolting mood, calling out every flaw and mistake he saw in the students' essays and just being a damn jerk. He stalked the classroom like a beady eyed hawk circling over a group of mice, targeting his next prey.

"Emily." His cold voice barked. A shiver ran down her spine at the sound of her name on his lips, dark and pissed. He had been pacing the back of the room and Emily figured her time was coming. No one dared turned their heads to watch the next student crumble under their teacher's scrutiny, instead keeping their eyes down on their own work. "How have you progressed with your essay? You didn't exactly have much done last time we…chatted." Emily thanked whatever God was up there that the students were too scared to turn around because her cheeks were burning a fiery red.

"I've done quite a bit actually." She responded with far more confidence than she actually felt. She lifted her dark eyes to challenge her teacher with an eyebrow raise. "You gave me some fairly good advice after school." Emily saw the hesitation flicker in his eyes for but a fraction of a second before his face returned to its signature stony expression. He put his hand out and Emily handed him her three page second draft of her essay. There was silence for a few minutes while he read, Emily keeping her eyes on his face, and Mr Hotchner's eyes racing so quickly through the paper Emily wondered if he was even reading it at all. He looked back at Emily and handed her draft back and started walking back to the front of the classroom.

"See me after school, Emily. Some serious corrections need to be made to that paper." And those were the last words he spoke to her all lesson.

Emily read thoroughly through her draft two, three, four times, analysing it and trying to figure out what could be so terrible about it that he needed to make 'serious corrections'.

The lesson dragged on, Emily's anxiety bubbled up as she played with her fingers and Mr Hotchner hardly spoke another word to the class, sitting in his chair at his desk reading through some papers and marking. Emily felt a buzz in her pocked and fished out her phone to check the message before her teacher saw her on it.

_Wooow…looks like someone needs to get laid ;)_

Emily almost laughed. Almost.

_Pen, that's disgusting haha that's our teacher!_

_Honey you love it. But seriously, what's stuck up his gorgeously toned ass this lesson? _Emily shrugged at the message, but then realised Penelope couldn't see her shrug at the back of the classroom.

_Dunno. Hope he sorts it out though. I don't particularly like the idea of him lashing out his anger on me after school.. :/_

_You want us to wait?_

_Nah, you guys head up to Morgan's. Who knows how long I will be. Plus I need to head home after school anyway, I'll meet you there._

_Sure thing sweetie xx_

Emily didn't reply, instead tucking her phone back in her pocket and anxiously stared at the clock as the seconds ticked by, waiting, waiting, waiting for the bell to ring and for her fate to be delivered.

* * *

'_Good luck!' _JJ mouthed leaving the classroom. JJ, Morgan, Spencer and Penelope had procrastinated as much as possible gathering their belongings when the bell rang, with Mr Hotchner glaring at them until he finally barked at them to leave. As they hurried out of the doorway and into the sea of school children making their way to the first afternoon of holidays, JJ cast one final glance at her friend before Mr Hotchner closed the door.

There was silence. To the point where Emily thought her teacher could hear her thudding heartbeat. She was nervous and excited all at once and it was wreaking havoc on her nervous system. She was nervous because Mr Hotchner had obviously been in a pissed mood all lesson, probably all day. Emily couldn't help thinking about Penelope's comment about him needed to get laid, but brushed it aside. Her insides were bubbling, because while she was nervous, there was a giddiness in her that wouldn't settle because the two of them both knew what had happened the last time they were alone in a room together and Emily felt a blush wash over her cheeks.

Her teacher was silent, walking along the side of the classroom and closing the blinds one by one. He didn't meet her eye as he walked over to lock the door. Emily couldn't hold her tongue much longer.

"Okay, Sir. I get it, completely. I know why you're mad and it's not about the essay so don't bullshit me." Emily saw her teacher's back tense when she swore and the thought that maybe she should restrain the swearing but she wasn't sure she could control it. "It is just as much my fault what happened the other week as it is yours. Not that I'm placing blame. Shit, I'm not even in the neighbourhood of Placing Blame. But I _am_ currently staying at a hotel in the city of What The Fuck Is Going On." Her teacher continued to face the locked door, not turning around to meet her eye and it frustrated Emily to no end. "Really? You pull me back after school to just stand at the door and not even look at me? Is this just some sort of game to you, Sir? Because if it is I'm not having any fun." There was a lengthy pause and neither spoke. Emily was waiting for her teacher to say something but of course he didn't. Sighing, Emily look a step forwards and felt her anger boil down to a simmer and rubbed her palms together. "Look, I'm sorry." She said in a quieter voice, taking another step forwards. She was about a metre away from her teacher now, but she didn't want to push him any more than she had. "I can tell you regret what happened, and that's fine, I get it. It was inappropriate, and it shouldn't have happened. Just forget it ever happened." Emily sighed and watched as her teacher's tightened back muscles loosened at her words. "Not that I'll be able to. I've been thinking about that kiss ever since it happened. Not in a bad way," Emily said quickly, "I've just been thinking about how badly I want it to happen again."

She didn't even have time to be shocked at her own words when she felt two strong hands cup her face and lips pressed urgently against hers. Emily couldn't even gasp, not that she wanted to. She didn't want to break away, instead melting into the kiss as her arms wrapped around his waist, pulling herself in closer, her hands running over the smooth muscles of his back.

She moaned quietly when his tongue ran on the underside of her upper lip and she granted him access almost immediately, loving the feel as his gentle, but dominant tongue battled her own. His fingers knotted in her hair and Emily fisted the back of his suit jacket and they kissed like that until her teacher turned her and backed her against the door and gently pulled away from the kiss, his eyes alight and slightly out of breath.

"Jesus I've wanted to do that ever since I first had a taste of you." He rumbled softly against her neck, his lips trailing a smooth line across her jaw. Emily gasped and tilted her head further back. "Every lesson I see your gorgeous face and it takes every ounce of my self-control not to kiss you again right there in the middle of the classroom." Emily's brain was in overdrive, trying to process his words and not be distracted by his wondering lips at the same time. It was proving to be very difficult. "I wanted to tell you today that I was going to hand in my resignation. I figured you were uncomfortable around me, disgusted. I didn't want you to get in any trouble so I was just going to walk away." His light stubble tickled her cheek as he kissed the little spot under her ear which practically made her purr. "But hearing you say that you wanted it to happen again…I just couldn't help myself." He whispered in her ear, lightly biting her earlobe at the end.

"Sir…" Emily whispered, not knowing what else to say. Everything she thought she knew about her teacher had been shattered and re-formed into this…this…dark, sexy creature which couldn't seem to get enough of her. Emily felt his body shiver against her own when she spoke, and she was fairly certain it wasn't a shiver of disgust.

"As much as I love hearing you call me 'Sir' like that, I'd prefer you call me Aaron." He pulled back and smirked. Emily raised her eyebrows. _I could get used to that_.

"Okay, _Aaron_." She purred, winking, but then her face turning serious. "You don't need to resign." Aaron took a step back, but his hand had somehow captured her own.

"Yes I do, Emily." He said. "If we get caught like this…" He trailed off, looking at her hand and then dropping it lightly. Emily, with her forefinger, tilted Aaron's chin upwards forcing him to meet her eye, smirking.

"Exactly." She said wickedly. "_If._"


End file.
